Don’t panic yet if you or a loved-one have been diagnosed with bipolar or Alzheimer’s, as these are among the most over-diagnosed conditions, says Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum.
– High cholesterol. “Many medical conditions tend to be over-diagnosed if there is an expensive medication and a simple test available,” says Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, medical director of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers nationally, and author of “From Fatigued to Fantastic!”
The best single example is elevated cholesterol.
“In people without a known history of heart or vascular disease, cholesterol medications have been shown to essentially be not effective in prolonging life. But with $20 billion-plus in sales yearly, this data is simply ignored.”
– Depression. Depression is a very real disorder; I should know, because a few years ago my mother sunk into a deep, disabling depression. But depression is also one of the most over-diagnosed medical conditions.
Dr. Teitelbaum says, “Many problems are also mistakenly diagnosed as depression because it is easier for the doctor to simply write a prescription for Prozac than to look for the underlying causes such as low thyroid, nutritional deficiencies, repression of feelings, etc.”
My mother’s clinical depression turned out to be caused by low thyroid, but her example was that of one of the most misdiagnosed medical conditions – low thyroid!
Alzheimer’s Among the Most Over-Diagnosed
– Alzheimer’s disease. “Most people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease do not actually have Alzheimer’s,” says Dr. Teitelbaum.
“This was shown in a recent Honolulu study (White et al) of 426 men, looking at autopsy results (the only reliable way to make the diagnosis).”
Dr. Teitelbaum says other conditions can cause cognitive impairment that overlaps symptoms of Alzheimer’s: low thyroid, nutritional deficiencies, side effects of medication, low testosterone in men, and pseudodementia, a form of cognitive impairment that can be caused by primary clinical depression.
These other conditions “are very easy to treat if the doctor would consider them,” says Dr Teitelbaum.
“Instead, physicians quickly write a prescription for the two Alzheimer’s medications which are largely useless – as this is what they’re trained to do in conferences and journals paid for by drug companies.”
– Arthritis. Again we have a very real disease, but at the same time, it’s over-diagnosed “because there are NSAID arthritis medications,” says Dr. Teitelbaum.
“Much of the pain in the hands and fingers is coming instead from muscle pain.”
– ADHD. There is no blood test or lab study that can verify diagnosis. Diagnosis is based upon identification of symptoms, which are often reported by parents and teachers. ADHD drugs bring in over $3 billion every year to pharmaceutical companies.
Though there are children whose parents swear Ritalin family drugs have been godsends for, ADHD is near the top of the list of the most over-diagnosed medical conditions, especially since a slew of other conditions mimic that of ADHD, such as childhood sleep apnea, sensory processing disorders and reactions to pesticides (Bouchard et al).
– Stress. Stress can cause headaches, back pain, nausea and even vomiting, diarrhea, insomnia, missed menstruation, heart palpitations, chest pain and other ailments.
Maybe this is why stress is another leading misdiagnosed condition.
Women with symptoms of coronary artery disease have been told that “it’s just stress.”
People with fibromyalgia, celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome have been told the same thing. There are throngs of drugs on the market to treat stress.
– IBS. Irritable bowel syndrome is a disease of exclusion; a proper diagnosis is made only after everything else has been ruled out.
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This means the patient should have a colonoscopy with tissue samples biopsied.
Many IBS diagnoses are made in the absence of a colonoscopy, as well as other key diagnostics.
Patients with Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, ovarian cancer and colon cancer have been diagnosed with IBS.
Bipolar Disorder Makes the List of Over-Diagnosed Conditions
– Bipolar disorder. Formerly known as manic-depressive disorder, this is a real condition.
In my “abnormal psychology” class in college (which I’m not saying makes me an expert), I learned that in the manic phase of manic-depression, the patient hallucinates and is delusional, perhaps believing he’s a movie star, an astronaut, a symphony conductor, is up for days straight working on plans to save the world, and is truly manic.
In the depressed state he believes fungus is eating away at his heart and hears the devil cursing at him.
Nowadays, a person can be diagnosed with bipolar disorder if he simply reports “ups and downs” to his doctor and asks “for something to calm my nerves.”
In short, the criteria for bipolar disorder have been broadened; this means more drugs sold.
– Erectile dysfunction. Impotence is real. But too many physicians are quick to prescribe expensive drugs like Viagra instead of considering that the dysfunction is a symptom of an underlying medical condition…like heart disease, diabetes or low testosterone.
In addition to the shockers of bipolar and Alzheimer’s, and others, being over-diagnosed, there are other conditions as well that are over-diagnosed.
Patients need to seek second, even third opinions if something just doesn’t seem right.
Dr. Teitelbaum
is a board certified internist and nationally known expert in the fields of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep and pain.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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